NFL Draft Profile: Carrington Valentine, Cornerback, Kentucky Wildcats
Carrington Valentine
Kentucky Wildcats
#14
Pos: CB
Ht: 6000
Wt: 193
Hand: 0928
Arm: 3228
Wing: 7600
40: 4.80
DOB: 09/09/__
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
High School: Archbishop Moeller
Eligibility: 2023
One Liner:
Valentine is a physical press corner who thrives within ten yards of the line of scrimmage and at the catch point, but he’s not a shutdown corner and will get burned trying to make big plays.
Evaluation:
Valentine primarily lined up to the left side of Kentucky’s defense in 2022, regardless of whether it was the field or boundary side of the play. He has extensive special teams experience on the kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. Valentine appears to have above-average arm length. He doesn’t have the deep speed to carry burners but was rarely stacked at Kentucky despite his speed limitations. The junior cornerback loves to talk trash and plays with the swagger typical of an alpha corner. He doesn’t mind mixing it up with receivers early in the route. Valentine throws stiff punches in press coverage and gave the much larger Cedric Tillman some tough battles this past season. Valentine squeezes routes along the sideline and is very aggressive at the catch point. He doesn’t appear to have high-end leaping skills but is excellent at timing when to go for pass breakups. The Ohio native frequently mirrors and engulfs short routes, especially against larger receivers like Tillman and Florida’s Justin Shorter. He is quick to close on screens and short passes and is a willing tackler who contributes in run support. Unfortunately, Valentine only has one season with significant ball production. He failed to complete several potential interceptions in 2022. Valentine isn’t a sudden or twitchy athlete. He sits high in his stance and lacks elite foot speed. The former three-star recruit allows significant separation at the top of comeback routes, possibly because of stiffness in his ankles limiting his change of direction skills. Valentine struggles to sink his hips and plant his feet at the top of comeback routes, which contributes to the separation he allows on those routes. He is fooled by quarterback eye manipulation and will abandon his zone coverage assignments to seek big plays. Valentine wasn’t to blame for most of Kentucky’s miscommunications against Tennessee in 2022, but he was involved with multiple blown coverages that led to Volunteer touchdowns. Valentine is a willing tackler, but he plays with inconsistent form. The standout junior has poor hand placement in press coverage, which invites wide receivers into his chest. Tillman took advantage of Valentine’s poor hand placement to push the cornerback around several times. Valentine needs to become more comfortable using a one-handed punch instead of a two-handed punch in press coverage.
Grade:
5th Round
Background:
This past season at Kentucky, Valentine led UK and ranked ninth in the SEC in passes defended with 11 (10 PBU, 1 INT). Totaled 48 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, one interception and 10 pass breakups. Over his career, he played in 35 career games with 25 straight starting assignments at defensive back. Totaled 119 career tackles, along with 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, 16 pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Excellent in the classroom as a two-time SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll member (2021 and 2022) and two-time member of the Dean’s List (Fall 2020, Fall 2021). Also named to the 2020-21 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll. In high school, Valentine was one of the nation's top 100 cornerbacks as rated by Rivals.com, 247sports.com and ESPN. He was rated as high as No. 23 in the state of Ohio by Rivals.
